Meteorologists call out Trump after Alabama hurricane map

President Trump is getting heat from meteorologists over his assertion that Alabama was at risk of being hit by Hurricane Dorian.

Trump displayed a map at the White House that included a half circle, possibly made with a black Sharpie marker, that showed the hurricane possibly moving into Alabama. This followed Trump’s assertion over the weekend that Alabama was in the path of the hurricane, which the National Weather Service said was not the case.

{mosads}Bob Henson, a meteorologist at Weather.com, told The Associated Press that Alabama “was never in the five-day cone” of uncertainty for the hurricane “except for a tiny sliver of the southeast corner of the state at one point.”

However, he added that the chances that the storm would have actually hit Alabama were very slim by the time Trump shared a tweet on Sunday saying the state would be hit much harder than anticipated. 

Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, told The Associated Press in a statement that he thinks “Trump should have just admitted he made a mistake and moved on!”

Meteorologist Ryan Maue also called out the president, telling the news agency, “If he’s going to be a provider of up-to-date information, he needs to be up to date.”

Trump insisted in multiple tweets that “certain models strongly suggested” Alabama and Georgia were in the hurricane’s original path. He added that in “one model through Florida, the Great State of Alabama would have been hit or grazed.” 

This was the originally projected path of the Hurricane in its early stages. As you can see, almost all models predicted it to go through Florida also hitting Georgia and Alabama. I accept the Fake News apologies! pic.twitter.com/0uCT0Qvyo6

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2019

His comments came days after he claimed on Twitter Sunday that Alabama and Georgia “will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated” by the hurricane.

In more follow-up tweets on Thursday, Trump took aim at media coverage of his remarks as “Fake News” meant to “demean” him.

….Instead it turned North and went up the coast, where it continues now. In the one model through Florida, the Great State of Alabama would have been hit or grazed. In the path it took, no. Read my FULL FEMA statement. What I said was accurate! All Fake News in order to demean!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019

Alabama was going to be hit or grazed, and then Hurricane Dorian took a different path (up along the East Coast). The Fake News knows this very well. That’s why they’re the Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019